Tag Archives: hospitality sector

Mark Valladares

8 January 2026 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 8th January 2026 - 10:30 pm
  • Corridor care: Govt has to treat this as a national emergency
  • Davey calls on PM to rule out use of UK bases to attack Greenland
  • Met vetting scandal: Lib Dems call on Conservatives to apologise for putting targets over public safety
  • Business rates change “last chance” for “treasured” pubs
  • Cole-Hamilton: £440m delayed discharge cost “utterly astonishing”
  • Woman in Far North stuck in hospital for over 400 days waiting for care

Corridor care: Govt has to treat this as a national emergency

Responding to reports that corridor care has become so normalised hospitals are fitting plugs in hallways, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

Corridor care is a disgraceful symptom of years of neglect in our NHS. It is completely scandalous that treatment on crammed corridors is now normalised with thousands of patients left on trolleys for hours or even days on end.

Enough. This horrific practice must end. The Government has to treat this as a national emergency. That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for an Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, which includes a rapid expansion of hospital beds and fixes our broken GP and social care services, to finally bring an end to this shameful chapter.

Davey calls on PM to rule out use of UK bases to attack Greenland

Ed Davey has today called on Keir Starmer to categorically rule out the US using British military bases to support a US attack on Greenland, just hours after UK airfields supported the American operation to seize a shadow fleet vessel in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Liberal Democrat leader has demanded today UK soil must “never” host aggressors against a NATO ally, including Greenland.

The Government has so far failed to rule out that such an operation could be launched from British bases.

Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Leader, said:

The UK must never play midwife to American aggression directed against our NATO allies.

I’m deeply concerned that our Prime Minister is yet to rule out the use of British bases to propel American troops onto the ground in Greenland – to take the territory by force.

Starmer must spell out to Trump and his lawless cabinet that the UK will never support such a dangerous act, and will abide by NATO and international law – even if they won’t.

Continue reading »
Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , and | 7 Comments
NewsHound

Lib Dems call for hospitality summit amid “unprecedented” level of Christmas cancellations

By NewsHound | Fri 10th December 2021 - 3:27 pm

Daisy Cooper and Sarah Olney have joined with Paul Scully Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam in a letter to the government calling for urgent support for hospitality firms impacted by plan B measures.

Concern has been mounting in pubs and restaurants in city centres about a drop off in trade during what is usually their busiest time of year after Boris Johnson issued new work-from-home guidance. The MPs say hospitality businesses are experiencing “unprecedented rates of booking cancellations” this Christmas.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 6 Comments
John Medway

No, Sir Edward, we are not going bankrupt!

By John Medway | Fri 16th October 2020 - 9:54 am

Embed from Getty Images

“We are going bankrupt as a nation — there will not be the money to pay for the NHS or pensions.” This was the impassioned cry from Sir Edward Leigh (Con, Gainsborough) in Tuesday’s Commons debate on public health restrictions. He referred in particular to the closing of pubs at 10pm and more generally to what he saw as a need to let businesses “get on and do business”.

Fortunately he was wrong. We won’t go bankrupt as a nation. This is because we create our own money. He no doubt thinks that business activity is always needed, through taxation, to pay for public services such as the NHS. This is not the case. The state is at liberty to create whatever money is needed to pay for public services. Taxation is needed to remove money from circulation to prevent inflation, not to pay for public services.

Inflation occurs when the economy is working at full capacity and the money in circulation creates effective demand beyond what the real economy can meet. The pandemic reduces both supply and effective demand. The supply of hospitality services is reduced by measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Effective demand for hospitality services, and for other services and goods, is reduced by the loss of income suffered by many businesses and employees whose work is affected by the COVID restrictions.

Most money circulating in the economy is normally created by private banks when they make loans. Money is destroyed when loans are repaid or written off, such as through bankruptcies, and when taxes are paid. Investment in several areas of the economy – such as hospitality, the arts and aviation – is likely to be depressed at the moment, which means that private money creation will be below normal.  It is not at all clear that the money being put into circulation through business support schemes, additional social security payments and health expenditure needs to be balanced by increased taxation. In any case, increased business activity could create its own need for taxation by stimulating an increase in the money created by private banks.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 64 Comments
Mark Valladares

22 September 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 22nd September 2020 - 11:15 pm
  • Government must make more help available to pubs and restaurants
  • Liberal Democrats secure urgent question to challenge Government on eviction loophole
  • PM must take responsibility for failings in test and trace system

Government must make more help available to pubs and restaurants

Responding to reports that the PM will set a 10pm closing time and only allow table service in restaurants and pubs, leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey said:

For millions of people this will feel like a step backwards. After months of disruption to our daily lives many will feel anxious and worried about this latest development.

The Government must immediately put forward a detailed plan to fix the track and trace system, which is the only way to avoid further measures being necessary.

The Prime Minister must also financially help pubs and restaurants who will inevitably lose business. After people have already been through so much hardship, we cannot allow thousands of jobs to disappear overnight.

Liberal Democrats secure urgent question to challenge Government on eviction loophole

Today, Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Tim Farron has secured an Urgent Question in the House of Commons following a loophole in the Government’s legislation to end the eviction ban, which has left an estimated 55,000 households at risk of being evicted since Monday.

Continue reading »
Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged , , , and | 3 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Paul Reynolds
    NOTE FOR READERS. Since we have almost zero information from Burnham on his foreign, security and defence policy approach (and that of international trade), I h...
  • Rif Winfield
    There is little sign that Labour's much-vaunted 1.5 million homes programme during the current Parliament is going to come to fruition, even with the planning r...
  • expats
    Tristan, % differences are largely meaningless.. Germany boasts a nominal GDP of approximately $5.4 trillion, making it Europe's largest economy. The UK's no...
  • Peter Martin
    "In the decade since that day.......We have missed out on roughly 6-8% of growth" Where does this figure come from? In any case, we didn't actuall...
  • Richard Flowers
    Dear Rebecca, It is you who gives me hope and lets me take Pride. Thanks to your tireless work, and other members of the Plus committee and community, you�...